New
#1
Clarification needed on activation?
I've seen a LOT of discussion about Windows 7 licensing and activation, but I have a technical question about it (vs. a LEGAL one)?
As an on-site service tech, I've run into several situations where users (mostly out of ignorance of the legalities of the licensing) attempted to re-use a license key intended for a single computer.
Does Microsoft actually have a mechanism in place with Windows 7 so when a retail license key is re-used on a new/different computer, it causes any previous computer running it to revert itself to a "not genuine" status? And if so, would this process be something not seen immediately -- but rather, something the user would run into randomly in the next 30 days or so?
Additionally, would the same be true of an "anytime upgrade" key purchased online?
I'm curious not because I'm looking for ways to skirt the law, but rather, because I've occasionally had customers insisting that their copy of Win 7 suddenly turned "non genuine" - and I'm wondering if this might not be the real reason people sometimes see this? (EG. They re-use a previously used CD key for 7 and initially it accepts it and the install appears to go fine. But then 30 days pass and the system checks in with a Microsoft server, which says "Oops... I already saw this key in use by another PC that checked in with me the other day." and it gets flagged.)
I do know this was NOT the way Microsoft handled activation for any of their other products I've used, such as Office 2007. It seems that with those, unless your particular key got added to a "blacklist", you were basically good once you got past the initial activation process successfully.